Mage Wars
by Demon Eyes Laharl
Summary: Chao's gambit had awoken an ancient kingdom not happy with the presence of mages. In the following years, Negi and his partner, Keitaro fight on losing battles and in desperation cross Space-Time to prevent the war.
1. Chapter 1

**Mage Wars **

**Chapter One – Conquering Space-Time**

_Negi's Journal, Date: Mage War Year Three. Day 254 _

_It was six years after the incident World Tree of Mahora Academy when it all started. It was the incident forever changed the history the world. Chao Lingshen, a time traveler, a descendent of mine, had hatch forth a scheme to expose the Magical society to the ignorant regular folk… to break the Masquerade. _

_I, along with my magical partners and students, stopped her plans, and in defeat, she decided to leave the future to me. She warned me about a bleak future for mages and their descendants… and she wished me luck as she went back to her own timeline. _

_However, not even she realized the consequences of her actions. While breaking the Masquerade had been forgotten because of the skillful and rather convoluted action of rewinding time, there was one person other than those involved that had realized what had happened. _

_And she wasn't happy. _

_After a few years, the attack came to all mages. There was no warning. Warriors representing planets come forth, bringing destruction in their wake. Claiming to be reviving a lost civilization, and deeming magic users and warriors a threat, they demanded unconditional surrender to those hiding behind the Masquerade. _

_Those who did, were transported to a supposed Tenth Planet of the Solar System. Those who resisted… were killed. _

_Survivors allied themselves to me. Along with my current and only surviving magical partner, Keitaro Urashima Aoyama, the last surviving practitioner of Shinmei-ryuu, we fought on tirelessly, but beaten in every turn to the present. _

_This is Negi Springfield. This is our last stand. _

* * *

The horizon was bleak, the grounds bare. Anyone alive could hear the voices of the dying, drowned by the explosions ringing out, coming nearer and nearer to encampment. A young man, with messy red hair tied into a lose ponytail, small spectacles, wearing long flowing robes looked at the horizon. On his right hand, he squeezed his wand, a wooden staff given to him by his father.

"Negi…"

The young man, Negi Springfield, looked towards the other man beside him. He was older and had a more grizzled face. He wore a white and black battle hakama, and beneath those loose clothing was a fishnet armor made of mythril, one of the strongest metals in that world. He wore rectangular spectacles, and on his person, two sheathed katanas, a black one on his back, and the other, a grey one, one his waist.

"Keitaro…" the mage said towards his partner.

"They are breaking through," Keitaro declared softly, frowning.

"I know…" Negi replied neutrally, though his heart ached as he heard more and more of his followers dying.

It was only six years since Chao Lingshen had given him the warning… but this wasn't the future he had expected. She had wanted to expose magic to the regular people, to foster understanding between the forces of the 'light' and 'darkness'… break the masquerade as a jump-start to foster understanding…

Negi never really tried to know what was in store for them. He just promised her, before she went back to her timeline, the future, that he would take care of everything. He had failed her… like he had failed his students back at Mahora. Like how he had failed his teacher, Evangeline.

The image of her crucified in a Light Purification magic circle, bloodied, yet fighting to stay alive brought too many bad memories for the mage. Her last words to him… to 'fight on'… was something he had kept in his heart for so many years.

"Negi… keep focused," Keitaro declared, making the mage suddenly focus on the present. "The Senshi have broke through the third regiment."

"What? That's too fast! The portal won't have enough time to form!" the mage muttered, looking behind him darkly.

Behind the two men were at least five magic circles, spinning on different axis. The spell was a means to make a portal punching between the Space-Time, something inspired by reverse-engineering Chao's own time machine. Negi had planned to use it to warn his past self how the future would unfold, and hopefully, reverse the hell this world had become, but the spell took too much time, and their enemies were approaching.

"Can you speed up the process?" Keitaro asked, looking glum.

"I could, but… the destination would be less than accurate," Negi replied truthfully.

"Better that then what our fates will be if those damn women catch us," Keitaro muttered. "I see them. I shall go ahead, and try to delay them. Work your magic."

"Keitaro, no!" Negi declared, shaking his head. "They want me. Alive, if possible. You… they have no qualms in killing you."

"Don't worry… I'm immortal, remember?" Keitaro grinned somewhat, before he disappeared, using a Shundou to escape.

Negi looked at the empty space, where his friend, the last practitioner of the Aoyama's Shinmei-ryū, and closed his eyes, his hand clutching his wand severely. He looked back at the magic circles he created, and began to exude mana towards his wand, chanting in slow, yet steady Greek…

* * *

Keitaro Urashima Aoyaoma looked back at the center of the camp, his face grim as he could feel the magic energies flowing freely. While behind him was the symbol of hope, its nemesis, was the symbol of hopelessness was knocking on their doorstep.

Five women, all in different sailor battle outfits of different color were coming towards them slowly, doing everything they could to pass. Numbers of resistance dwindled as the girls chopped, blasted, burned and electrocuted all who opposed them to death. The smell of charred flesh, blood and death was heavy in the air… if he had been younger, he might have lost his stomach then.

However, it has been three years since the war, the war no one had ever predicted. Before it, he was a semi-normal man, married to Motoko Aoyama after they both had challenged her older sister, Tsuruko Aoyama and lost. He was supposed to be her protector, having been taught intensively by his wife and his teacher, Seta, only to lose her because of someone's betrayal…

Now… he was the last stand. From a protector of his wife, he became the protector of the last Western Mage, protecting the young Negi from the Sailor Senshi, a bunch of deluded visionaries who plan to take over the world, turning it into a place filled with brainwashed people living happy lives…

Too bad mages of any kind were not invited to their little 'Crystal Tokyo'.

Without warning, he disappeared, and reappeared in front of Sailor Jupiter, his katana in his back unsheathed, hitting her armored forearm with a strong blow. The woman with brown hair and green uniform, Sailor Jupiter, looked surprised. If it wasn't for her skill, she might have been cut in half. The black blade was coated in black energy, demonic energy pouring out.

"Hoho! Look at this ladies! The last Aoyama graces us with his appearance," Sailor Uranus, a tomboyish woman with cropped blonde hair declared, readying her sword.

"Hehe… look at that! He's using his little cursed sword against me!" Jupiter declared, laughing as she forced her arm away, pushing Keitaro out of the way. The man just slid gracefully along the ground, and readied his next attack.

"You're not welcomed here," he declared, pointing the black sword at them. "Leave this area immediately."

"Heh… you sound like your little wife before I cooked her heart out…" Jupiter replied easily.

For a second, Keitaro's face twisted in an ugly motion, but he controlled himself immediately.

"So… you were the one," the man declared, his grip on his weapon tightening.

"Going to bore me to death, now, claiming justice on your side?"

"No…" Keitaro replied simply, "I shall just cut you down."

Again, Keitaro disappeared, reappearing on Jupiter's side, then disappearing once more only to appear behind her. Utilizing the Shundou in multiple occasions, it gave the illusion that Keitaro was magically appearing at will, wherever he wanted to. Of course, Jupiter was no slouch, being the most skilled non-armed combatant of the Senshi before the Awakening, and she just dodged his slashes, and blocked some of the attacks she couldn't.

The Shundou was a move he used constantly. It was something both his teachers, his late wife Motoko, and his Jeet Kune Do teacher, Seta, had him master after he had gotten the basics of their styles. It consisted of pushing himself forward in a straight line, making him move at near-instantaneous speeds. Using that, he'd constantly attack the Senshi, using multiple Shundous to flank her from the sides at times.

The rest of the Sailor Senshi, Mars, Venus, Uranus and Neptune just looked at the battle, cheering. None of the other monkeys were worth the grain of salt. The resistance was nothing more than a bunch of Eastern Mages, low level classes at that, and low level demons, which they could easily kill like they could spit. However, the man in front of them, Urashima Keitaro… the partner of the only surviving Western Mage, the right hand man of the leader of the resistance… and boy, could he fight.

Keitaro was glad… there was no way he could face them all on. It would be suicide…

Another clash of metal against metal, sparks flying out, but it was clear Jupiter was stronger than Keitaro, but in turn, he was much faster than she was. He kept pace, trying to maneuver her to a more desired location, but she wouldn't falter.

"Disappointing," Jupiter muttered darkly, blocking more attacks. "I would have thought you'd be more challenging than this."

Suddenly, her attack speeds increased, surprising Keitaro slightly as her fist grazed his right cheek. The force and speed of her attack was sharp enough to cut him slightly. Not to be intimidated, he stepped up on the speed, finally using the Air Shundou when he was pushed away, surprising his enemy.

The Air Shundou was a variant of the Shundou, except instead of using it on the ground, it would be used in the air. Somewhat a bit more complex, but nevertheless effective, Keitaro was able to get a clean hit, his blade slicing the Senshi in the back.

"AGH! You damn asshole!" she screamed as she fell forward, but it was already too late. Capitalizing on her motions, he used another Shundou and appeared in front of her. Her face met his fist… multiple times.

Using the prototype style of Jeet Kune Do, the southern Kung Fu boxing style of Wing Chun, Keitaro felt a slight sadistic satisfaction of feeling his wife's killer's face break as his knuckles dug in deeper to her face. Controlling her movement, she got at least ten hits in before the other Senshis finally felt their companion wasn't going to get out of this one.

Mars threw small but powerful balls of fire at him, forcing him to get away, while Uranus went at him. Forcing once more to draw his sword, his family heirloom met the powerful Buster Sword, and with a powerful explosion, Keitaro was forced away from the Senshi, almost hitting a wall.

_Damnit… I better avoid confrontations from that sword! _Keitaro thought darkly as he dodged a golden chain coming at him.

"You goddamn fucker…" Jupiter began to shout, accompanied by Neptune. She looked pretty pissed.

"Oh crap…" Keitaro whispered, more to himself than anything. He had hoped he would have finished one of the detestable Senshis before they attacked him as a unit. Using Shundous, he once more tried to maneuver into a better position, only to be caught in the last second by a golden chain.

"Like I'm going to let you swim away!" Venus declared, and tugged on the chain, letting Keitaro fly face first towards a wall with the force strong enough to break it, leaving him blood-lipped, and sword-less.

Jupiter jumped in at the chance, humiliated beyond belief, thinking her quarry was on the ropes. She jumped up, high in the air, and covered herself in electricity, thrusting her towards her target at incredible speeds. Keitaro, somewhat dazed, realized something was coming at him, and at the last second, rolled out, barely dodging her attack. Concentrating, he felt for his sword, and recalled it to his hands, arming himself once more… only for Mars to come in immediately and try to fry him with another fireball…

The explosion rocked him off his game. He had barely avoided getting incinerated but the explosion forced him to another wall, this time back-first, creating a web of cracks and making him cough out blood. He was already teetering off consciousness, with his head and back taking huge hits. The wall was made of reinforced concrete, and it was only thanks to his legendary endurance that he didn't turn into meat paste.

However, the damage was done. Keitaro sat down after the impact, steadily losing consciousness, his vision blurry. He could see the Senshi stalking at him, ready to kill him if he was trying to act funny. Mars had her finger pointed at him, a small fireball aimed at him. Venus had a glowing sword on her hand. Neptune and Uranus were together, staring at him… and Jupiter… Jupiter was in front of him, grabbing the front of his hakama, pulling him up.

"You fucking prick…" she muttered, and her fist hit him hard at his face.

Keitaro looked dazed. The pain he felt when her fist came had been a rather powerful jolt to his senses, almost making him unconscious, but her attack continued, her punches coming in to his body, making him spit out blood continuously.

"Huh… it's true! He is immortal!" Jupiter declared, pausing on her attacks. He should have been dead with the punches she had been given, but here he was, barely holding on to consciousness.

"Maybe Mercury would want to study him…" Venus stated, looking at the bloody-beaten samurai with a slight wince.

"Don't worry. I'll tell Mercury everything I do to this prick… maybe we'll find out how many pounds of force his body can withstand… or how many amps of electric current he could endure," Jupiter declared with a rather nasty grin.

"Fa…" Keitaro began to mutter, but went silent, his breathing heavy.

"Huh… still coherent eh?" the woman asked, sneering. "What was that, though? What are you trying to say?"

"I… said… fuck… you."

Mars flinched slightly as Jupiter began to beat the man once more, and that was saying something. Fire being her element, she was the most susceptible of temper tantrums, though granted, her temper was expected. He did something that Jupiter would never forgive him for… he made her, even for a moment, helpless.

Jupiter forced another monstrous punch, the wall behind the samurai cracked under pressure, his blood sprayed all over her face. She ignored it though as she kept punching and punching… even though it seemed her victim had already stopped moving or resisting, she didn't stop.

"LET GO OF AOYAMA-SAMA!"

A shout… a very brave shout stopped Jupiter from continuing her beating as she jumped away. Suddenly, a group of Eastern Mages and their paper demon familiars leapt to view, forcing the offending Senshi back, and alerting the other Senshis that reinforcements came.

"Aoyama-sama…" one of the female mages came forward, and with her familiar, they began to exude healing magic out of their hands.

"Sashi, take care of him!" the leader of the group declared, a young man, with a winged demon as a familiar said to the young woman. "Get him to Springfield-sama!"

"Yes sir!" Sashi, the girl healing Keitaro replied, and with the help of her familiar, carried Keitaro away.

The young mage smiled, then took a serious look in front of him. The Senshis didn't seem amused… Jupiter herself looked angrier than ever, but as intimidated as he was, he didn't show. Acting as any leader would, he shouted his order… "CHARGE!!"

"You whelps…" Jupiter raged. "You will all die!"

The Eastern Mages charged in, undaunted by their enemy, knowing fully well this was their last day on Earth.

* * *

Keitaro felt himself stirring… the pain of his body coming back to his body, throbbing. However, for some reason, the pain slowly began to fade. When he opened his eyes, he finally saw why… Sashi, one of the medic-mage of the First Regiment, was healing him.

"Aoyama-sama… you're awake! Thank the gods!" she declared.

"What the hell happened?" Keitaro mumbled, trying to stand. The young girl's familiar forced him back down, not to move.

"My unit came to back you up…" she replied, shuddering slightly. "It was horrible… **they** were horrible. I never saw anyone beaten up like you… it's a miracle that you're still alive…"

"Miracle…" Keitaro scoffed slightly. "She didn't hit that hard… Motoko hit me harder before. Where's the rest of your unit…?"

Sashi looked at Keitaro with slightly sorrowful eyes, and then looked backwards. Keitaro immediately knew the answer, and he forced himself up.

"Don't, Aoyama-sama!"

"Let me go! First Regiment's a tactician and information retrieval group!" the young samurai declared, trying to get out of the young woman's familiar's grip. "They don't stand a chance!"

"I know, Aoyama-sama… but please…!" Sashi pleaded.

"Let me go!" Keitaro growled out, trying to force the girl away. "I don't want anymore blood on my damned hands!"

"I can't let you! Springfield-sama needs you!" Sashi declared, her eyes now crying. "He needs you!"

Keitaro looked at the girl, frowning. He could hear the battle wage on… the slaughter. Sashi could hear it too, and she had wanted to join her comrades, but she was given a specific order. The young samurai sighed… her orders were tearing her up, and he wasn't helping now, was he?

Raising his arm, a black blade suddenly spun towards him, its hilt resting on his grip. Sheathing it on his back, the young samurai nodded towards the female mage.

"Lead on."

* * *

Negi Springfield sweated, slightly feeling the drain that the spell was causing to his magic reserves. It was almost complete… just a bit more, the spell would finally punch through the dimensions… and they'd finally leave this wretched place…

There!

The place was washed in bright light, and the magic circles connected together, forming a portal of light.

"Got it to work, eh?" a voice behind him called. Negi turned, and saw Keitaro with a young woman he recognized as a medic-mage of the First Regiment.

"You look awful…" Negi replied, looking at his friend sadly.

"I'm still alive, that's all that matters," Keitaro looked at the portal. "So… that's it eh? The portal that will stop the whole war."

"Hopefully… rushing the process has made it slightly unpredictable," the mage said. "Who knows what timeline we'll land in."

"Wow… what a lightshow…" a female voice called.

Keitaro suddenly felt himself going cold. He recognized the voice… Negi, Keitaro and Sashi looked at the new arrivals, the five Sailor Senshi he had faced off earlier had arrived, looking at them.

"Magister Negi Springfield?" Sailor Neptune asked, looking towards Negi. "We demand you to power your spell down, whatever it is, and surrender. Your rebellion has come to an end."

"We don't listen to tyrants," Negi replied coldly, his staff spinning slightly on his hands, ready to fight.

"Don't be foolish," Neptune continued. "Your partner, your soldiers couldn't even hope to beat us."

"Heh… don't flatter yourself," Keitaro mocked, his hand reaching for the hilt of his black sword. "I beat one of you down so… easily."

"I'll enjoy skinning you alive you bastard…" Jupiter seethed. Then, she smirked. "Like how I enjoyed pulling this idiot's head off."

Saying that, she threw something towards the ground; it was the head of the Captain of the First Regiment, the one who had ordered Sashi to take Keitaro away.

"Didn't even last a minute. A worthless man."

"Hayate!" Sashi shouted. In anger, she suddenly charged against the Senshi, along with her Familiar. Keitaro tried to stop her, but he couldn't. Mars fired off a ball of fire which immediately incinerated Sashi and her familiar leaving a charred husk.

"And there goes the last of your futile resistance," Mars declared, blowing her index finger as if she was blowing off a smoke of a newly fired gun.

"Now will you listen to reason?" Neptune asked.

"You can go to hell…" Negi muttered darkly. "I'll never give myself to you. You'll have to kill me."

"That can be arranged…" a new voice called.

From the left of the group, a portal formed, revealing a tall beautiful woman with green hair and piercing red eyes. The Senshi looked at the new arrival, and bowed in respect, while Keitaro felt dread crawl in every corner of his body as he gripped his sword harder, so hard he thought he was going to open a few blisters. Negi himself looked out of it as well, his face washed in a mix of horror and unbridled rage.

Sailor Pluto, the one who had started the whole war had come.

"Pluto… what a surprise," Negi muttered.

"I'd say I'm honored by your presence, but I'm not that horrible of a liar," Keitaro said coldly.

"Charming… to the last," Pluto smirked slightly. "Did you think I wouldn't notice your little spell breaking through Space-Time? Stop this silliness. You have lost. Stand down, and maybe, Mercy shall be shown."

"Shown, but not given?" Negi scoffed. "I'm no fool. I saw your mercy years ago, when you tortured and murdered my teacher."

"She was a full-blooded magical vampire with great power," Pluto said easily. "There was no way to not deem her a threat. You and your kind have shown how your power endanger our future."

"You mean your future," Keitaro muttered heatedly. "You don't give a damn about us."

"Its all for the greater good."

"Stop wasting your breathe. Your propaganda won't work on us," Negi said.

"Then… I have no choice. Goodbye, Magister Negi Springfield," Pluto raised her staff. "Dead Scream!"

"Emittam!" Negi suddenly shouted at the same time. Suddenly, the delayed spell he had invoked earlier cast itself, with a huge large cyclone appearing around the portal, Keitaro and the mage, protecting them from Pluto's deadly spell.

In the middle of the cyclone, in the eye of the storm, Keitaro blinked, not expecting that. He looked back at Negi, who looked exhausted. He had been holding on to the spell longer than a minute, plus the fact he was also evoking his magic on the portal, it was to be expected.

"How did you know?" the samurai asked, looking very impressed.

"Hmph… wasn't you the one who kept telling me to always be prepared?" Negi smiled weakly. "We have to go. I used the minimal energies when casting the spell. It'll fall in seconds."

"I'll stay here," Keitaro replied, looking to the place where the Senshis have gathered.

"Its suicide, Keitaro," Negi growled. "I don't need some sword that can't be sheathed. You promised me, the day we met, that you'd always be my friend, and support me in this war. The war isn't over yet, and I'll hold you on to that promise!"

"She was out there…" Keitaro mumbled, her thoughts going to Jupiter. "Motoko's killer. I can't just allow her to walk freely."

There was a slight pause. Negi sighed. He didn't want to do this, but he knew he had to get his friend away from his murderous and suicidal thoughts. He cocked his arm, and gave the older man a wicked punch on his face.

"Stop being selfish!" he growled.

Keitaro blinked, grabbing his cheek and then looked at Negi, who stared at him, eyes made of steel. He took a deep breathe, and looked at Negi with neutral eyes as the mage continued to tell on him. It reminded him a lot of his late wife.

"You're abandoning that duty. Your abandoning your friend," Negi continued.

"Yeah… I know…" Keitaro sighed. "Sorry… Negi."

"Its not that I don't understand your feelings, Keitaro… but with Pluto still alive, no matter what timeline we land to… she can find us, and I need you to protect me."

"Sheesh… you have a way with words…" Kietaro whispered, though his form was now more relaxed. His bloodied face looked at the mage, with a slight smile, and nodded. "I'll protect you Negi. Until the end."

The spell slowly faded, and the wind died down. The two young men knew it was now or never. They jumped towards the portal Negi had made, and as they did, the spell died down. The Senshi wasted no time, and attacked the area at the same time. Their spells didn't combine, but the force was enough to make sure they wouldn't escape cleanly…

They didn't… but not because of injury. Their attacks have made the magic energy of the portal far too unstable, corrupting it, powering it overtime. Negi's coordinates, as inaccurate as he claimed it might have been, had been forever been ruptured, as if Space-Time had been shot multiple times by a Tommy Gun.

The portal faded erratically, and Pluto knew her opponents got away. She growled slightly in anger… she was so close!

* * *

The area was nothing more than a forest. Tired, barely conscious, Keitaro carried his unconscious friend, Negi, on his back as he moved forward, trying to find civilization. The mage was exhausted, his magical energies spent… and the young samurai had no idea where he was… or more importantly, when.

After what seemed like hours of walking, Keitaro fell to his knee, breathing heavily. He didn't know what to do… the forest seemed endless, and the daylight was fading.

Suddenly, he could hear a sound… wood creaking slightly, as if it was trampling on the earth and stone. Forcing himself up, Keitaro walked a bit more, and he could, for some reason, smell ramen. He heard voices…!

Running towards that direction, he stumbled slightly, his exhaustion too much as he tripped on a stone, forcing him down. He got the attention of a few people.

"Father!" a female voice called. Keitaro looked up… she was young, and pretty. Her brown hair seemed to flow as she ran to them. She couldn't have been more than fifteen.

"What is it Ayame?" a male voice called.

"There's two guys here!" she called. "They look beaten up!"

"Where!?"

Keitaro heard no more… his senses faded, everything going black. He lost consciousness when he saw the young girl and her father, a clean-shaven old man look over him from above.

* * *

_Author's Notes: _

_My first mega-crossover using both Negima and Love Hina that doesn't have my OC character, DEL. Hope you enjoy it, as it's pretty much an experiment. Later! _


	2. Chapter 2

**Mage Wars**

**Chapter 2: Where Do We Begin? **

* * *

Keitaro listened to Negi's breathing as he was prone on a futon. The samurai was tired, forcing himself to stay awake ever since they had exited the wormhole. The two people that had taken them in were kind enough, but Keitaro took no chances. He remembered the time when he was naïve. It cost him his friends, and his wife. And even if they were good souls, he had to stay awake in case that damnable Sailor Pluto and the Senshi would follow them.

They had long left their arrival area. Taken in by the two people that had found them, they were in a small carriage, pulled by a rather sturdy looking horse. The transport was comfortable enough, but it only had one room to rest with. The rest of the carriage was littered with cooking pans, stoves, and a whole lot of pots sealed.

The young girl said that she and her father were Ramen Cooks, and they were on the way to Fire Country's ninja village to start over. Ninja village, Keitaro got. What Fire Country was, though, he had no idea. Suffice to say, that, and with the whole forest was enough to convince him that they hadn't exactly arrived at Negi's planned destination.

There was a knock on the door.

"Excuse me," the girl, Ayame, called. "Um… are you awake?"

Keitaro briefly wondered how to answer that. He settled on being honest. "Yes."

"I have some ramen… and broth for your friend, if he's awake," she replied.

Keitaro smiled a bit. This Ayame girl's kindness reminded him of Shinobu.

"He isn't awake, but please, come in."

The door slid open, revealing the girl, serving rather two big bowls in one small tray in her hand. The most impressive bit was how she remained steady, not spilling a drop even in the moving carriage, which wasn't exactly passing a smooth road.

Ayame gave Keitaro a bowl of ramen, and put the other bowl half-filled with broth on the floor beside Negi's prone form. She looked at the younger man with sadness, her frown prominent.

"What's wrong with him?" she whispered.

"Exhaustion," Keitaro replied truthfully. "He had a very… arduous day."

Ayame giggled. "You have a funny way of speaking."

Keitaro smiled a bit, dunking a finger to the broth, and taking a small taste. He had formed that habit as a means of checking for poisons. "I got it from my wife. Sorry."

"Aren't you kinda young to have a wife?"

"Aren't you a bit young to gossip?" Keitaro replied well naturedly as he took a bit of the noodles and meat. It was clean. He dug in.

Ayame pouted cutely, glaring a bit towards Keitaro, who just smiled as he slurped his noodles. His first nourishment ever since they had arrived, and it was filling. Very filling.

"This is quite good," the spectacled man declared seriously, smiling warmly. She definitely reminded her of Shinobu. "You'll be a very accomplished chef."

Ayame blushed, and said nothing, opting to watch the sleeping Negi while Keitaro finished his meal. Silence reigned for a few minutes, a calming one, Keitaro would notice as he began to relax as well. He decided that these people weren't his enemies, though he still was wary of a Senshi attack.

"Are you… good friends?" Ayame asked suddenly, taking the spectacled man back a bit. She suddenly looked apologetic. "I don't want to pry… its just…"

She remained silent, sadness now apparent. Her shift in her aura, her ki, which Keitaro read easily enough, was enough to convince the spectacled man not to force the issue. Instead, he just nodded.

"He is my only surviving friend."

"Oh…" Ayame looked a bit distraught. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to-"

"Its fine," Keitaro chuckled. "We've been great friends… for years in fact. Not under the best circumstances, but where we came from, we did what we could. I have been very lucky to be his most trusted friend."

"When did you guys meet?" Ayame asked, now a bit chirpy knowing Keitaro hadn't taken offence on her own curiosity.

Keitaro smiled a bit as the memory resurfaced. It wasn't exactly a time where he had put on his best impression.

* * *

"AAAAGGGHHHH!!!"

The ten year old Negi Springfield blinked as he heard a shout. Was someone playing golf somewhere? He shook his head, trying to concentrate back on finding Mahora Academy, where he would now continue his training as a Magister Magi as a High School Teacher.

Of course, looking for that specific train station that would bring him there took less precedence when a young spectacled man fell from the sky, right in front of him, smashing the concrete ground, rolling painfully into an incoming car, which launched him towards an abandoned store.

"Oh my goodness!" Negi declared as he immediately as he ran towards the unfortunate man, half-wondering whether it was too late to save him. He was surprised, however, when the man stood up and coughed, wiping out the dust from his torn clothing.

"Damn it… where the heck did I land now?" the man asked rather sorrowfully.

"Are you okay?" Negi asked, looking pretty worried enough. The man should be on a hospital… or a morgue!

"Yeah, yeah… I'm fine," the man declared, coughing slightly again. "Um… where am I? Am I still at Kanagawa Prefecture?"

The young mage blinked. Kanagawa Prefecture? That was pretty far from here, if he remembered his map and geography location correctly.

"No… um…" Negi paused, looking at the man, wondering if he really was 'unharmed'. "It's a bit far from here."

The man just sighed. "Naru really punted me far away…"

"Naru?" Negi asked.

"Haha… it was a misunderstanding!" the man scratched the back part of his head nervously. "I swear!"

Negi knew he wasn't going anywhere. The poor man must have suffered quite a blow to his head if he was acting this skittish. So, he tried the more friendly route. "Um… If you're sure… by the way, I'm Negi Springfield. What's your name?"

The man paused, and looked at the boy. He gave a friendly smile. "I'm Keitaro Urashima."

"Pleasure to meet you, Urashima-san…"

"No, don't call me that," Keitaro shook his head. "Keitaro's fine."

"Negi then," the boy stated.

They would soon walk towards the train station, talking a bit about their lives. Negi stuck with his cover, a prodigy child that graduated the University of Wales, and was recruited as a teacher for Japan to teach English. Keitaro, more truthful than the boy, told him his dream of finally entering Tokyo University.

It was significantly nothing. Two strangers have met, one Japanese, one foreign, though quite adept in the language. Yet Negi could feel something with their conversations, while Keitaro felt some sort of kinship for the boy.

They wouldn't have known at the time, but it was a destined meeting.

* * *

"You fell from the sky?" Ayame raised an eyebrow, completely doubtful.

"After I was punched from an irate girl who thought I had been peeping on her in the hot springs," Keitaro replies easily.

"Were you?"

"Of course not," the spectacled man replied. "I was mopping the floor when my foot had slipped on the wet patch, and I careened through the dressing room towards the springs, tripped on an exposed water pipe, and crashed into her as she was about to get off the water."

"Now that's unbelievable," the young girl declared, looking a bit angry, thinking Keitaro was pulling her leg.

"Heh… it's funny in a way," the spectacled man chuckled, "I too can't believe how clumsy I was before. That wasn't an isolated incident. It had happened to me more than once, with more than one girl. It usually ended the same… they'd launch me in the air with a punch or kick."

Ayame shook her head. She had the expression that she didn't believe a word of what Keitaro had just said, but enjoying the story for itself.

"Of course, it was partly my fault. I had to be more careful since I was the only male living in that all-girl's dormitory."

"Wait… what?" the girl looked at the spectacled man, eyes wide with sudden suspicion. "You were living in an all girl's dorm? Why?"

"I inherited it being its manager," Keitaro shrugged, grinning seeing Ayame's face. "Funnily enough, Negi had that same expression as you when we met again."

* * *

"Hold up, sugar," Kitsune, one of the residents of Hinata-sou, the dormitory where Keitaro had been managing, called as she spotted the spectacled young man as he began to limp out of the door.

Keitaro had a cast on his leg, having being crushed by a sculpture piece when he was about to enter Tokyo University, having passed finally after failing three times, only for his dreams of entering the prestigious halls to be shattered by a freak accident.

He could fly and land on concrete and walls, and hit cars without so much of a scratch, but seemingly Fate wouldn't allow him to enter Tokyo University, his apparent immortality disappearing, leaving him with a cast and broken bones.

"Yes, Kitsune-san?" Keitaro called rather tiredly.

"You going out?" the woman asked.

"Yes," he replied.

The dormitory was… stifling. With his leg, he could only do the most basic chores. He didn't even have a reason to study anymore since he had past the exam, plus after seeing Naru enjoying herself as she left for her classes stung him slightly. He decided he needed some fresh air.

"If you're going for the store, buy me a small bottle of sake, would you, dear?" Kitsune smiled.

Keitaro just nodded. Putting on a shoe, he gave a customary farewell, and hobbled down the rather steep hills towards town, where he began to walk around aimlessly. He stared through the windows he was passing, seeing the displayed the goods they were selling when he accidentally bumped someone. That someone wasn't exactly hardy, quite the opposite in fact. Stumbling a bit backwards, Keitaro looked at the young girl he had bumped fall on her butt.

"Oh gosh! I'm sorry!" Keitaro declared. Normally, he would help her get up, but his two hands were busy holding his crutches. He couldn't put too much pressure on his injured foot as it was still a bit tender.

"Its okay," the girl replied, her long black hair moving with the wind.

"I should have looked where I was going," the spectacled man stated apologetically.

"Its no problem, really," she stated, quite honestly.

Before Keitaro could say anymore, someone called shouted from behind him.

"Konoka!"

Turning around, Keitaro was greeted by a girl with a rather intense expression, not unlike Naru Narusegawa, though her eyes did creep him out somewhat. One was blue, the other was green. She was running towards them, the sound of metal against metal sounded. It was the bells tied on her hair, which was done rather stylishly in two ponytails.

"Asuna-san?" the girl with long black hair called as she stood up.

"What happened?" the girl, Asuna asked. "Me and that brat were looking all over for you."

"Ah, sorry, I guess I wandered a bit," Konoka replied, wiping the dust of her clothes.

"Asuna-san?" another voice called, a male one this time, somewhat high-pitched though. "Have you found Kono… oh…"

Keitaro and Negi's eyes met. The boy blinked a bit, then smiled with pleasant surprise.

"Keitaro-san!" Negi suddenly greeted. "Fancy meeting you here!"

"Negi!" Keitaro laughed a bit. This was a surprise. "How's the teacher business?"

"I'm a permanent teacher now," the boy smiled.

"That's great!"

"How about you, Keitaro-san? Did you finally pass?" Negi asked.

"Of course," Keitaro replied, smiling, then sighing. "But… because of bad luck, I got injured before I could even start my classes. Doctor said I would have to take a rest to recover."

"Ouch, Keitaro-san…"

"Oi, Negi," the girl Asuna suddenly called, making the two males look at her. "Who's your friend?"

Keitaro and Negi looked at her and Konoka, who looked rather curious. Looking at each other, the young mage started speaking first, introducing the crippled man.

"Asuna-san, this is Keitaro Urashima… the first friend I got when I first came to Japan," the boy replied.

"More like acquaintances, really," Keitaro scratched the back part of his head. "We met about a year ago, talked about ourselves while we both walked towards the train station. We exchanged email addresses, and kept some contact with each other…"

"Yup. He helped me a lot when it concerned the Japanese culture…" the red-haired boy stated. "Was it really that long ago? It was like only a few months ago."

"Yeah," the spectacled man chuckled gently. "I guess we both have been pretty busy. Got a cell phone yet? Maybe we can exchange numbers this time instead of e-mails."

"Oh yeah, sure," Negi nodded, and was about to give him his number when he felt Asuna's hand on his shoulder, gripping it tightly enough to make him wince. "Ow… Asuna-san…?"

"Excuse me, me and Negi have to talk," Asuna said towards Keitaro.

"Uh… sure…"

Asuna took Negi off towards the side, and began to whisper towards the side, leaving Keitaro confused. Konoka, who finally wanted to satisfy her own curiosity, approached the young man and began to ask a few questions.

"So… tell me," Asuna whispered, "is he a mage or something?"

"No," Negi shook his head. "Not that I know off anyway."

"Oh… so he's a regular guy, eh?"

Negi then remembered Keitaro falling from the sky like a meteorite, and hit by in an oncoming car and coming out without a scratch. How would Negi answer that question truthfully? Of course, he couldn't. Not even he, with all the weirdness in his life, believed it himself.

"Yup. Regular guy," Negi nodded with a hint of nervousness. Asuna blinked, and looked at her boy-teacher curiously, which made the young mage sweat a bit, before she nodded, satisfied.

"Oh wow…" Konoka suddenly exclaimed. "Asuna! Keitaro here says he's the manager of an all girls dormitory here!"

"Oh, that's nic…" Asuna blinked as her brain received the last part. She could only shout a very surprised "EH!?"

"WHA…!?" and it seems Negi himself wasn't any better at receiving that tid-bit.

* * *

"I remembered that time…"

Keitaro and Ayame suddenly jumped when they heard a rather weak voice speak. Ayame was giggling as Keitaro began to describe the finer points of Negi's expression when the young mage finally seemed to have woken up.

"Negi!" Keitaro declared as he kneeled down towards his friend, giving him a look-over. "How do you feel?"

"Tired…" Negi sighed. "Hungry too…"

"Oh, please wait…" Ayame kneeled over Negi's other side, with her bowl of soup and a spoon ready. Keitaro lifted the boy up slowly, and Ayame slowly fed the mage with the broth.

"Thank you…" Negi said, looking a bit more energized. "It is very delicious."

Ayame blushed. "Its not too hot, is it?"

Negi shook his head. "It is quite fine… again, thank you, miss…?"

"Ayame. Ayame Ichiraku…" she introduced herself.

"An accomplished cook, made a pretty delicious bowl of ramen," Keitaro smiled. "She found us along with her father, both of them are traveling towards a ninja village in Fire Country."

Negi mouthed 'Fire Country' and 'Ninja village', looking confused, and Keitaro mouthed the silent 'Tell you later' reply. Nodding, the young mage, feeling quite strong enough, sat up on his own.

"Don't exert yourself, Negi," Keitaro stated towards the mage worriedly.

"I'm fine… see?" Negi smiled, and gently taking the bowl of soup and spoon from Ayame's capable hands, and began to feed himself. After two spoonfuls, he looked at the samurai, and said, "Well? Go on. The story isn't finished yet."

"You sure?" Keitaro asked.

"Yes," the mage nodded. "After all… it wasn't until the next time we met did we actually began our friendship."

"Heh… and you said we were already friends that time…" Keitaro smiled, and shook his head. He looked at Ayame, and continued on where he left off.

"It was a fated day, I think, when I met Negi at that point because the very same day, I would meet my future sister-in-law," the samurai continued slowly. "She was going to visit her sister, a swordswoman at the dorm I managed."

"Drop–dead gorgeous, too… or as Keitaro first described her to me," Negi chuckled.

"Negi!" Keitaro had a slight blush on his face, making Ayame giggle a bit. "Oh fine. Yes, she was drop-dead gorgeous. She carried herself like an ideal woman, and she had that aura around her that commanded attention. Saved my life too…"

"Sliced a truck in half," Negi smiled a bit.

"Truck?" Ayame asked, confused. Negi glanced at Keitaro with an inquiring eyebrow.

"Um… think of it as a big carriage, pulled by six horses," Keitaro explained, signaling Negi with his hand that he'd explain later. "It was out of control, and was about to run me over when she just whipped her sword out and cut it in half cleanly."

"Wow…!"

"Yeah… freaked me out too," the samurai admitted readily, laughing a bit. "Turns out she was going to bring her sister home. Motoko, my future wife, didn't want to go yet as her friends were still staying in the dorm, so devised a ploy, and lied to her sister, saying I was her fiancé."

"Ooh…"

"Looking back, I guess it was kinda funny," Keitaro then sighed. "Until her sister found out though. She was mad. She fought Motoko a bit, easily beating her, and cutting her sword in half, telling her she was a disgrace, and would not be allowed to practice the Art again."

"Ouch…" Ayame winced. She couldn't imagine herself quitting making Ramen, so she felt really sorry for Motoko.

"Yeah… but we made an agreement. Motoko and I would team-up and try to beat her in Motoko's hometown. If we won, she'd forgive Motoko and allow her to keep the title as Heir of the school. If she and I lost… she'd have to marry me."

"You guys… lost, right?" Ayame asked.

"Big time. It was pretty close though…" Keitaro remembered how he had used the cursed Urashima Sword, hoping to try and regain the advantage… only to get possessed, effectively distracting Motoko who used a purification attack to save him. She was left open to her sister, who knocked her out cold.

The rest was history.

"She married us there and then, all official documents. It should have been my happiest day on earth… here was a nerd, a spineless wimp, and he was about to marry this beautiful strong woman… but she was out of it," Keitaro frowned. "She had cried in the ceremony… and it wasn't because she was happy. She became quite catatonic in the dormitory as well, as her life was sucked out of her. It was natural, I guess. I wasn't quite the best catch, and she had a bit of a male-hate in her system before… so I called her sister, and begged her to do anything to make Motoko happy again.

"She didn't settle on divorce, though I thought would have been better at the time, but what she did was order Motoko to train me in the Art," Keitaro had a slight smile on his face. "I had no idea how that was supposed to help… but she apparently knew more than I did. Motoko took it hard at first, but when she trained me, she realized she could still be a swordswoman. Training me allowed her to continue her art. Of course… I wasn't happy about it. Her training tended to become… rigorous."

"Back then, Keitaro wasn't much of a fighter," Negi said, putting down his bowl of soup, now more energetic than ever before, his tiredness seemingly abandoning him. "So, he asked his teacher, a person named Seta to train his body. Took Keitaro off to another country for a year, came back with enough strength to continue his training with his wife."

"Would be years before we met again," Keitaro continued, looking towards a wall with that far-away-look in his eyes. "We kept contact through the years, more so than before, but we didn't really meet once more until Motoko's family ordered our presence at their ancestral home…"

Ayame blinked as Keitaro just stopped talking, his eyes darkening with every second. Negi nodded to himself, understanding his thoughts.

"Ah, forgive him," Negi smiled a bit. "It was… it was a bad memory for him. Needless to say, we met each other in his in-law's family grounds. I wasn't having a good day either."

* * *

In Kyoto, in the Aoyama Grounds, Keitaro stared at the pond, a bamboo water-fall making sound as its bottom hit the rock in every interval, with the koi fish swimming everywhere. On his face were bruises, fading, but still painful-looking, but his eyes seemed worst off.

It was glazed.

Negi, an older looking one, was behind Keitaro, his face contorted in anger.

"Those fools!" he seethed. "How could they let her get away with this!?"

"It's for the greater good," Keitaro muttered automatically, almost in a robotic mode. "She and her friends are in line with the Aoyama's cause for hunting down youma."

"After what she did to you, she's just going to get a slap in her wrist, and walk away!?" the mage wanted to scream it out loud, but couldn't. He had not much say, as he was only invited as a witness, he had no real authority to speak to the Council. "This isn't right, Keitaro… look at yourself! You were lucky I was there!"

Keitaro's eyes began to form tears, his face contorted with pain as he held his sides, looking on the ground shamefully.

"I have no standing in the family… the only reason I was there is because I had married the former heir," Keitaro mumbled weakly. "Even Moto-chan was chewed out for speaking out. Please… Negi-dono… don't do anything rash. She didn't even get far. I'll recover… and I won't ever have to see her again."

"Damn it, Keitaro-san… damn it all," Negi whispered as he slid down beside the broken man. "You're too good for this world. I mean that."

"Heh…" Keitaro replied softly, his face becoming a bit more animated. He wiped away his tears, and smiled slightly at the mage. "Western Mage eh?"

Negi flustered, looking a bit embarrassed. He had been hiding the fact from Keitaro from their e-mail's and phone messages until today, when Keitaro and Negi met at the Council Chambers, and the mage was introduced as the famous Thousand Master's son.

"I had to keep the Masquerade," Negi replied sheepishly. "Besides… would you have believed me telling you I was a magic user?"

"Probably not… until Moto-chan forced me to read on Aoyama history," Keitaro chuckled. "Heck, I probably don't believe most of it myself. Crash course in magic lore, two factions of magic, Aoyama trainees hired out as mercenaries... and now, you."

"Odd, eh, how we both would meet up like this?" the mage asked, looking at the pond. "And it started almost three years ago, when you fell out from the sky."

"Hit a car too," the training samurai added cheekily.

"Yes, that too," Negi laughed, with Keitaro following suit. For a moment, the past worries stopped affecting them, and they both honestly shared the laughter. The warm feelings died though, when a voice from behind them gave Keitaro a shiver up his spine.

"Hey lover-boy. There you are. I've been looking all over for you!"

Negi immediately stood up, and faced the blonde woman, hiding Keitaro's shaking form behind him.

"I want to finish up our little tête-à-tête," the woman smiled. "Ditch that spoil-sport. Come with me. I'll be more gentle this time. Pro-mise."

"Venus," another woman appeared behind the blonde, one with long brown hair done to a pony-tail. "Stop it. You caused enough trouble already."

"But Jupiter…I didn't even get to test-drive him yet…!"

"Pluto's waiting for us, and she's not going to be happy if you're late," the woman, Jupiter interrupted coldly.

"Phooey," Venus pouted. "Oh well… next time, lover-boy!"

Negi watched the two Senshi leave, with Keitaro shaking somewhat as he stared at the pond.

Not another word was said.

* * *

Negi and Keitaro stared into space. Ayame had already left, his father calling her outside, leaving the two men alone. Silence reigned as the carriage slowly traveled on the rough road, sending a bump or two on their way, yet they kept still, letting the world pass them by.

Finally, Negi felt he had been silent long enough. "We're not in the past, are we?"

"Afraid not," Keitaro replied quietly. "What happened? Did you make a mistake? Did I screw something up?"

"No… it was an accident," the mage sighed. "Pluto's attack got through… and it was powerful enough to disrupt my magic, probably blowing a huge hole in Time-Space, landing us to another dimension. That's the only thing I can think of right now. We got lucky."

"Lucky? How is this lucky?" Keitaro asked.

"Well… we're still alive, aren't we?" the mage smiled a bit. "We could have gotten scattered across Time-Space in atomic particles."

"Eh…" Keitaro groaned at Negi's imagery, and agreed silently that he was right. They were lucky to be alive. "So… what now?"

"I'll study my spell and Pluto's attack. If I can simulate another phenomenon in a controlled environment where I can study its effects, I can reverse-engineer the accidental spell effect, and find a way to finally cross more dimensions," Negi declared.

"You lost me…" Keitaro muttered, making the mage chuckle.

"What I meant was I'll modify my Time-Space spell, and see if we can cross Universes to get back home," Negi simplified.

"That's good!" the samurai declared.

"Yeah… but…"

"Oh… damn. I hate this part," Keitaro sighed. "Alright. What is it now?"

"I have no idea how to get ourselves back accurately," Negi whispered. "I may simulate a way to cross dimensions, but the spell was, firstly, created by a freak accident. Even if I can repeat the spell safely, it'll just repeat its effects: crossing dimensions blindly."

Keitaro groaned, putting the palm of his hand to his forehead.

"This sucks, Negi."

"I know, Keitaro… I know."

**To Be Continued… **

_Author's notes: _

_Exploring the past of Keitaro and Negi. Some differences from canon, and I may have ignored most of Negima!'s timeline. Added more backstory to give more depth of Keitaro's vendetta with the Senshi. :P Enjoy it guys. Later! _


	3. Chapter 3

The Hokage's office has always been dark at night… something of preference of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, ever since the Fourth Hokage had died, and given the position back to him. The darkness was some sort of acknowledgement that he felt somewhat wronged by being given the job back at him, or maybe the fact that someone so skilled and young had died before him.

Today, though, the darkness was a cover. The old man, the Third Hokage, looked at the ANBUs, black-ops shinobi who assembled, hidden in the shadows with a glint reminiscent of his old days, back in the great Shinobi war he had fought in his prime.

"I express myself… disappointed," the Hokage muttered with a slight cold edge in his voice. The younger ANBUs shivered slightly, unused to his aura. The man was always warm and grandfather-ly. Not today. "I can understand a somewhat lax of immigration watch in the gates, and even the roaming guard around our city, considering it to be our most festive event of the year… but the absence on security detail on Uzumaki-san is just horrible."

The Hokage slammed a file on the table.

"Twenty civilians along with five chuunins attacking a young boy at public. I do not care how any of you view him as, but as ninjas, who are under my command, I thought you'd show a bit more professionalism," he muttered. "And because of that little incident, we have five shinobis at the hospitals, recovering from broken ribs and bruised bodies. Not only that, Uzumaki-san has been kidnapped. Is there any explanation?"

There was nothing but silence.

"Hmph… I expected that much," the Hokage shook his head. "Who were assigned to guard Uzumaki today? Step forward. Now."

Half of the group, mostly the younger ones stepped forward without hesitation, though with fear.

"Guard duty for six months. No pay. Dismissed."

There was no confrontation. Those who found the punishment too severe didn't voice it, knowing the Hokage wouldn't spare no quarter if anyone of them protested. They did as what was expected of ANBU… they bowed, and disappeared, leaving the other group of ANBU alone with their wizened leader.

"Talk to me," the Hokage muttered. "Who were those two?"

One of the ANBU stepped forward.

"According to their passports, the one with the sword is Keitaro Aoyama… a samurai who had been dismissed by his lord in Vegetable Country. The other is a Negi Springfield, a scholar of the same country. They came along with Ichiraku Teuchi and Ayame, who claim to have found them on the road as they traveled here. They had proper papers, and we were expecting them as they have bought a business space to set up a Ramen shop."

"Of course, the passports were fake," another ANBU stepped forward. "We took the serial numbers of their passport… they looked proper, but there was something wrong with the sequencing of the numbers. Plus, Vegetable Country didn't have anyone by the name of Aoyama or Springfield in their records."

"Spies?" Sarutobi asked.

"Most probably…"

"Where are the Ichiraku family?" the Hokage asked.

"In detaining cells, though they will be released in an hour's time. Morino cleared them."

"Were they harmed?"

"No sir," the ANBU replied readily. "He used a truth serum and genjutsu. They had no training, and repeated everything they have told us so far."

The Third Hokage looked down towards his table, in thought. He then looked up, and asked, "Probability then that this Aoyama and Springfield actually came here for Uzumaki?"

"Considering he is the jinchūriki of the Nine Tailed Demon Fox… I'm afraid to say it is quite probable," an ANBU replied. "Even with your law, Sir… it wouldn't stop people from talking amongst themselves. They could easily pick-up from the grapevine, especially since they are spies."

The Third Hokage nodded, and contemplated towards his desk once more. After a while, he finally reached his decision.

"Retrieve and Capture," Sarutobi declared in an emotionless tone. "Retrieving Uzumaki will be your highest priority. Capture those spies… alive as much as possible."

"What if in case they killed Uzumaki?"

The Third Hokage had a cold look in his eyes. "Spare no quarter."

"Yes sir," the ANBU bowed and disappeared.

The Third Hokage sighed as he stood up, and walked towards his window, the cold wind washing over his aged face. Outside, the festival went on, the civilians and most ninja families and clans gave no care in the world. The Hokage gave a slight growl as he sat back on his table in the darkness, waiting for good news.

* * *

It all started a few hours ago, when Teuchi and Ayame finally arrived at the borders of the Hidden Village. Keitaro knew immediately because he felt the faint spike of energy. He wasn't impressed. Keitaro had met ninjas, and he would describe them as tough, silent, and invisible. They hide their energy signatures almost completely, yet these 'ninjas' patrolling around felt more like samurais.

"We're close, Keitaro-san," Ayame said.

"I'll tell Negi then," Keitaro replied with a small smile. "Thank you for brining us this far."

"No, no, young man," Teuchi smiled. "Thank you for being such good company. We'd have been bored without you."

Keitaro bowed slightly as a means of thanks, and moved deeper in the carriage, towards the room where Negi was staying. He knocked on the door twice, before it opened, revealing a smiling mage. Keitaro smiled back.

"I'm guessing you did it…" the samurai said.

"Yup," Negi replied, and revealed two small booklets.

He was actually busy the past few hours, using a little magical creativity to modify two magical passports, which they have been using back in their home world. Being hunted down all over the world by the senshi didn't exactly give them the opportunity to travel around normally with regular passports, so every resistance member had a passport that would magically change their names and past history as not to raise red flags.

The Senshi were only seven warriors. They couldn't be everywhere at once, so they maintained their order by using the local police, and international law communities to keep them aware of movements. Luckily for the resistance, they had little to no experience dealing with magical items.

Now, they were going to be used in a different manner. Instead of hiding their identities, Negi modified them to create new identities. All Negi needed was information, which Teuchi had, somewhat unwillingly, given to them. Using his mind-reading abilities, he gathered enough details and was able to develop a magic program to fake their history. The only thing real in their passports was their names.

Keitaro flipped it open. To his eyes, the passport was nothing more than pieces of paper with magical runes imbedded on it. While not well versed in the magical arts, he could see the modification his mage partner had used, and nodded with satisfaction as his back-story began to show itself.

"Great. Teuchi-san told us without these, we wouldn't be able to enter any village or country anywhere," the samurai muttered. "We're quite near the said ninja village."

"I know… not exactly great ninjas. Kaede-san was much adept in hiding her presence, and she was young," Negi shook his head, remembering one of his former students. "I don't even know what to say."

"Perhaps different world, different ninjas?" Keitaro reasoned.

"Maybe so… but still…"

Ayame had come in, smiling. Negi and Keitaro had grown close to her and her father that they bonded a sort of friendship. It wasn't a very close one, mind, but it was more than just passing acquaintances. Negi and Keitaro were grateful for them for giving them a connection to this world, while Teuchi and Ayame were grateful for their presence.

"We're coming to the village!" Ayame exclaimed happily. "Come on!"

She took Negi's hand, and the boy blushed a bit before he was led out. The older Keitaro shook his head with a smile, and followed suit. Outside, the carriage stopped as they came to a massive gate, with two masked ninjas approaching them.

"Papers?" one of them asked.

Teuchi immediately took out his and Ayame's passport along with a few official looking papers. One of the ninjas checked and verified the contents, while the other looked towards Keitaro, his stance stiffening as he spotted the man sporting two blades, one at his back, and the other on the waist. After what seemed to be a few seconds, he looked away towards Negi, who gave him a friendly smile.

"Passports?" the ninja asked.

Negi and Keitaro handed theirs, and the masked man looked at them, studying them. He looked over Negi's quite easily, nodding a bit, but when he came to Keitaro's, his stance easily gave away a look of curiosity.

"It's been a while since Konoha had a visit from a Samurai... even if it is from a minor lord," and the masked man looked at Keitaro again. He seemed satisfied. "You have a look of a man who has seen many things."

"Probably too many things," Keitaro answered gruffly, though respectfully. "My friend here got a wander-lust in him, so I joined him on his journey."

"Scholar Springfield, right?" the ninja asked.

"Yes," Negi replied easily.

"Well, today is you're lucky day. Today is the Festival to commemorate our victory against the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, and mourn for the great Fourth Hokage who had sacrificed himself to save us."

Keitaro said nothing, and neither did Negi. Their passports have no information about such creature, so, they just did what they felt was natural: nodding, and feigning understanding. Now done with the checkpoint, Negi, Keitaro, Teuchi and Ayame were both allowed inside the ninja village, with a friendly reminder not to cause any problems.

The village, Konoha as the ninja had called it looked more like a flourishing capital than a ninja village. Keitaro looked at Negi oddly, who seemed to shrug, he too apparently confused.

"You'd think being a military power would make this place a bit more..."

"Spartan?" Negi suggested.

"Quite."

The village reminded Keitaro too much of the bustling commercial parts of Tokyo… except it was less urban, and more rural. For Negi, the village reminded him of a mix of Mahora festival and the Magical World. There were flower shops, blacksmiths, clothing store, and flea markets where they sell fruits and other goods, the salesperson shouting bargains to anyone interested in listening. The whole place was bustling, busy in preparation of the festival later.

"Ayame and I have to go to the Council to finally settle our place of business," Teuchi stated. He offered his hand to both Negi and Keitaro, who both shook it firmly. "Thank you for accompanying us. Let's see each other around?"

"It'd be our pleasure," Keitaro replied, smiling slightly, and nodded towards Ayame, who looked a bit sad.

"Yeah, Keitaro and I will be around, no problem," Negi assured.

Waving them goodbye, the two other-worldy visitors were finally left to their own devices, looking around the village they looked at each other, and nodded. Walking away from each other, Negi and Keitaro began to explore the village, agreeing to meet back before dinner where they started.

The sun was beginning to descend. Lanterns were being lit and there was a band playing music somewhere. The whole village was slowly turning a bit festive, and the only ones that weren't in the mood was Keitaro and Negi, who had finally met up once more.

"They use old Japanese currency… Ryo," Negi stated as he sat down on one of the benches. "And here is the funny part… they were all paper money. I had to trade a few gold pieces for a nice sum! Imagine that? Paper Ryo. And I used gold to get them!"

"Don't let it go over your head, Negi," Keitaro smiled. "How about our situation? When can we get out of this world?"

"I can actually cook up the spell anytime. I have been experimenting on it while modifying our passports," Negi replied.

"I hear a 'but' coming," Keitaro said.

"Yes, but…" Negi grinned a bit. "I'd rather do it in a presence of a leyline, just to make the spell more stable. Mind, this is the first time I'll be doing an accidentally created spell."

Leylines were energy veins that grow naturally around earth, made of very pure energy that would easily be converted to any kind of energy, magical or otherwise. Most mages use them as an extra source of energy, or to be used as a stabilizing factor for spells that were pretty dangerous… and a spell that rips open a hole between Time-Space is pretty dangerous.

"How about you?" Negi asked. "Found anything?"

"It isn't very helpful to us, but this whole town is a mix of ninjas and civilians," Keitaro replied. He motioned towards a group of young kids accompanying an adult with a vest. "Ninjas have some sort of cloth with a metal plate. Stamped on it is a symbol, probably of the village. It's very odd. It's as if the whole village is a small country, with its own economic work, and the ninjas are just there as a military. Of course, this is just guesswork…"

"Kaede-san would have liked it here…" Negi seemed to sigh as he spotted the kids in the group asking the adult something. The adult just nodded, and the kids smiled, and went around the place, pointing from one brightly lit booth to another. "It's… peaceful."

"Until it shows its true face," the samurai added.

The mage nodded. "Yes… until it shows its true face."

The sun finally went down, and the place was lit in lights. Oddly enough, they were electrical lights, and Keitaro for a moment wondered how the village was getting their own electricity, but after a while, with Negi towing him around the village's sites, began to relax as the mage did. The festival was pretty much a traditional Japanese summer festival, complete with caramelized apples, goldfish scooping (which Keitaro noticed a sign reading 'No Ninjutsu!'), and crossbow target practice.

He watched Negi partake in a few games, the younger man looking happy, something which Keitaro hadn't seen since the war had started. The village was very peaceful, and the veteran had been longing for such peace… but at the same time, he knew he couldn't stay. He and Negi had a job to do… a responsibility for their world.

But… even for a moment, he let it be, and relaxed. Nothing good came out of being tense all the time. He had fought the war for three years… three years of constant fighting, death, and void. He took a deep breathe, and promised to himself he would enjoy the little respite, if not for him, but for Negi's sake as well.

Then came a cry.

Keitaro was alerted immediately. The cry came from somewhere near… a kid's sob.

"Hey, Keitaro, you should try this," Negi looked at his partner as he lowered the crossbow he had been using just a few seconds ago, only to notice the older man was walking away from him. "Keitaro?"

Negi recognized the stance. Even with his back turned, he knew Keitaro well enough after all these years to know the man was now on a warpath. Immediately paying the man a few Ryo, he immediately followed Keitaro as he moved past the crowd, pushing through the gaps, and entering the narrow alleyways between the buildings.

Then, the man stopped. The young mage wondered what was going on, when he heard the sob. Quickly walking beside Keitaro, he looked at the shocking display that Keitaro had led him to.

"Good God," Negi muttered in English.

In front of them was a boy, very young, not older than ten by Negi's estimates, being lynched and beaten by a mob. The kid was already bleeding from the mouth, and his arms were down, dirty and bruised. The kid had tried defending himself. Now, he was being kicked down by shouting and cursing men and even women.

The worst of it was when someone near Negi suddenly muttered in a hushed whisper, "The fox brat is getting what he deserves."

"Stop it!" Keitaro growled, loud enough to be heard. The crowd faced him, and for a moment, looked confused, then promptly ignored him, and began to continue beating the kid.

"I said… STOP IT!" Keitaro shouted the last line this time, letting loose a burst of Ki. The crowd immediately dispersed, feeling the Ki spreading out towards them in a very unfriendly fashion. The only ones who stood their grounds were men with forehead protectors, and they looked a bit confused.

"You are not from around here, are you?" one of them asked.

"I do not see why that question is relevant," Keitaro replied.

"If you're not from here then you wouldn't understand."

"True, I wouldn't understand why a group of grown men and women would feel the need to beat down a very young boy," Keitaro stated with a slight snarl, "after all, I am no coward."

"You dare call us cowards?" one of the ninjas growled.

"That is the appropriate term I would use from such attitude and behavior. Now, cease and desist immediately, before you force me to draw my sword."

All the ninjas began to draw out their kunais, looking towards Keitaro threateningly.

"I will not warn you again," Keitaro began to draw on his katana from the grey sheathe. To the trained eye, or anyone close enough to see, it was a reverse-edged blade, earning a scoff from the ninjas.

"A reverse-edged sword. Seriously?" one of them muttered.

"Get out of here, you useless samurai-wannabe," another one said. "Before you get hurt."

There was a flash, and Keitaro charged in. Negi saw it… the fight lasted five seconds, but Keitaro hit them hard on their sides and ribs. The crowd gasped with surprise and horror as the ninjas all fell into a heap, unconscious, with Keitaro in the center, his eyes closed as he took a deep breathe. He began to sheathe his sword, the clicking sound indicating his sword was now secure in its sheathe, and proceeded to walk towards the fallen boy. The crowd dispersed, parting as he walked by them. He ignored them, and approached the fallen and unconscious form of the boy.

He had wild blonde hair, black shirt and white pants with leggings that only reached just slightly below the knee. He was dirty, and looked very malnourished, thin, almost like a skeleton. Keitaro moved the boy's head slightly, placing a hand glowing with Ki just to asses the boy's body, and see if he could heal some of his injuries.

There were odd marks all over his face. Six marks, three on each cheek, like some sort of whiskers. Suddenly, his vision flooded to red, an evil face appeared, behind a wall of bars. It had a long face, and pointed ears, radiating evil energy that Keitaro was forced to take his hand away. When he did, the image vanished.

"Kami-sama…" Keitaro muttered. He then noticed the boy's wounds beginning to close up.

The crowd stirred, and one of them bent up to pick up what looked like to be a large stone, and threw it towards Keitaro, whose back was facing them. Negi quickly blocked it with his staff, his face flushing with anger.

"I dare you to do that again!" he declared angrily. "Any one of you! I dare it!"

Keitaro turned his head, and saw Negi in a fighting stance, ready to defend him. "Negi… that was unnecessary," he whispered.

It was true. If there is one thing that Shinmei Ryuu specialized in was the ability to defend in any forms of projectiles, and a single stone was nothing, really. There was also the fact that Keitaro was Negi's magical partner, the mage's shield. Granted, Negi is more of a combat mage that fights along with his partners, but it was the principle after all.

Of course, Negi, being Negi, was a kind, if not over-thoughtful young boy with a somewhat overabundance, if not outdated, of English Chivalry in his veins. Keitaro appreciated the gesture, though he wished the young mage wouldn't act too recklessly. Next time, it won't be a stone thrown to him… a car maybe, or even two killing destruction spells at least.

"Let's get out of here," Keitaro muttered as he carried the boy carefully. He looked really fragile. Keitaro faced the crowd, who all looked apprehensive, not knowing what to do. "Get out of the way, before I make you."

The crowd dispersed immediately, leaving Negi alone with Keitaro, who was carrying the boy, and the unconscious ninjas on the ground.

"I'm sorry, Negi," Keitaro stated softly, looking at the young mage. "Seems we have to move away from here sooner rather than later."

"It's fine…" Negi nodded. He then looked at the boy. "Are you… taking him?"

"Yes… this village isn't safe for him," the samurai replied. "When I poured some of my Ki in him, trying to see how badly injured he was and trying to see if I could heal him, I felt such a malevolent force in him. As my wife would call it… a demon."

Negi blinked, and looked at the boy. "He's a demon?" he asked, but then immediately corrected himself. "No, silly me. The manifestation is all wrong. He doesn't even have a taint in him… something sealed a demon inside him? That might explain the attitude of that mob."

"I saw an animal… red eyes, red fur, pointed ears and nose…" Keitaro muttered.

"Sheesh, that sounds like any kind of animal four-legged mammal," Negi replied, then realized something. "One from the crowd called him the fox brat."

"Fox…?" Keitaro's eyes widened. "Kami-sama… lets move Negi. This place isn't safe… for any of us."

In the dead of the night, one Uzumaki Naruto was rescued by two strangers. The very same night, he would leave the village, and unknown to him, changed his life, forever.

**To Be Continued…**


	4. Chapter 4

Deep in the woodland area around the Hidden Village of the Leaf, Keitaro and Negi sat on their makeshift camp. Sleeping beside them was the young boy they took, lying down on Negi's cloak. They were far away from the Hidden Leaf Village, bearing northeast off the main road, deep enough that all patches of the forest looked nearly identical to each other. Twilight faded an hour ago, and the high branches covered the night sky almost entirely. The stars and moon barely provided any light.

The main source of illumination was the campfire, created from broken branches Keitaro had gathered with Negi providing the flame. Being a mage all he did was snap his fingers, and created a steady fire that was big and strong enough to warm the makeshift campsite, filling the air with the mild smell of burnt wood and leaves.

"We have a few rations for all of us that will last the night at least," Negi said, sprawling through his magical backpack, which was a nifty magical tool he used to carry many of his tools of the trade.

"Good enough," Keitaro replied with his form still as he sat in a meditative position, his expression carved in stone.

"Yeah," the young mage nodded. "I'm pretty sure we'll be out of the forest by tomorrow. If we aren't, you can always hunt for food."

"Quite."

Negi looked at Keitaro with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe we'll run into the Senshi, and we can all have tea and scones."

"Probably," the samurai replied, before his expression changed, and he abruptly opened his eyes. "Wait, what?"

The young mage shook his head. "Alright, Keitaro, what is it? You've been sitting there with the same expression on your face since we stopped by here."

"I'm expanding my senses over unknown territory," the older man said. "I want to make sure we have an early warning if they come for us."

"You are expecting them to follow."

Keitaro gave a wan smile. "After what we have been through, you wouldn't begrudge me of taking a few precautions."

"No, of course not," Negi said and looked at his friend then towards the blonde boy, frowning. He took a moment before he said, "To be fair, we were rash. What if we had kidnapped a boy from his parents?"

"If he had parents, they would be with him, defending him," the samurai said.

"That's an assumption," the mage said.

"Do you doubt it?"

"No… but this isn't a war zone, Keitaro," Negi looked at him. "We kidnapped a boy from its village. This is different. Plus with the demon inside him… it raises a few questions on the boy's value to the village."

Keitaro frowned. He stared at the still figure of the boy for a moment, and then said, "You think he is raised to be a weapon?"

"Possible," Negi replied. "And if he was…"

"We have just stirred a hornet's nest," Keitaro finished.

Negi smiled weakly. "Quite."

Keitaro shook his head. "You know, Negi… I think I've been cursed the day I met you."

"Oh no, Keitaro, you're not blaming this on me," Negi replied. "You flew to me. If anything, meeting you cursed me."

"Cursed? You were assigned to a class of young nubile students who all but adore you, while I ran an all-girl's dorm… which is worse than it sounds."

"It is also that dorm where you met your wife, Keitaro, who adored you," Negi smiled.

"Quite the opposite, actually," Keitaro countered. "I adored her. And we only married after... well, after a whole lot of misunderstanding, launches to the air, and a very dominant older sister-in-law."

"Touché."

The two chuckled, honest smiles appearing between them. Good memories of their life always seemed to encourage them to move forward, even at the darkest days of the war with the Senshi. It had done its job here as well.

"We should move once daylight shows. Move farther from the village to dissuade pursuers," Keitaro stated.

"Are we dropping him anywhere?" Negi asked.

"I don't know yet. If it were up to me, I'd want him with us. That way… they won't be able to find him."

Negi was about to reply when Keitaro suddenly cut the air between them with his hand. The mage frowned, and looked at him. "What?"

The samurai placed his finger between his lips, and closed his eyes for a minute, before it fluttered open as he frowned. He looked towards the kid and said in a soft voice, "I know you're awake, kid."

Negi blinked as he spotted the boy stiffen at Keitaro's words. The blonde slowly sat up, and looked at them, his eyes washed with suspicion. He covered himself with his arms and legs, pushing back towards the tree trunk.

"W-who are you?" he asked.

Negi answered first in a calm, friendly tone. "I'm Springfield, Negi."

"Aoyama Keitaro," the samurai replied with a slightly stiff nod.

The boy looked at them for a moment, then around the forest, surprised. "Where did you take me?"

"Far from the bad people," the mage replied. "Are you hungry? I have a few energy bars. It may not taste good but if you're hungry…"

"I'm not hungry!" the boy declared. He didn't even finish when his stomach suddenly rumbled.

Keitaro and Negi looked at each other, smiling slightly. The mage shook his head, and grabbed a bar and offered it to the boy. The blonde looked at it suspiciously before swiping it with his arm, and retreated back to the tree. He opened the wrapper easily, and began eating, his eyes misting.

"It's… good," he muttered.

Negi smiled and took a ration bar for himself, and threw another to Keitaro. The samurai's hands caught the bar immediately. Though his face was still, his eyes seemed to blaze with fire Negi recognized.

"You're a scrawny kid," Keitaro said. "Don't your parents feed you?"

The boy finished his bar, frowning. "I don't have any parents."

Keitaro winced. "Sorry," he said, then frowned. After a moment, he looked up towards the kid, and said, "Hey, kid. Catch!" He flicked his bar towards the blonde in an underhand throw.

The boy caught the bar, a smile ghosting his face before it settled on its neutral expression. "T-thanks."

"No problem. You need it more than I do," Keitaro gave a small smile. "What's your name kid?"

"Um… Uzumaki Naruto."

"Nice to meet you, Naruto-kun," the mage smiled. "How would you like to come with us?"

"Huh?"

"What he means kid is we're taking you with us," Keitaro said.

"Wha-what? No! I can't. I have to go back!" Naruto exclaimed.

"You're kidding, right?" Keitaro mumbled, standing up. "Did you remember what they were doing to you, kid?"

"I'm… I'm fine now, right?" the boy mumbled.

"That's not the point," the samurai sighed. "I can't allow you to go back to that godforsaken place."

"Bu-but it's my home! The old man will be worried… and Iruka-sensei will be worried!"

"I'm pretty sure they will understand," Negi said. "Would they want to see you beaten up by a crowd? Would they want to see you hurt in any way?"

"Well… no. But that's not… I mean…"

The wind shifted slightly blowing stronger towards the left. Keitaro suddenly felt his senses tingling. Something was coming, fast. Without any warning, he suddenly stepped in front of Negi and Naruto, his reverse-edged sword slicing through the air. The sound of metal ringing against metal echoed through the night air, and five sharp objects fell from the air, stabbing the ground around them.

Kunai, Keitaro thought automatically. They're here.

The poor kid blinked as he spotted the dangerously sharp weapons around him. "Wha… wha…"

"Negi!" Keitaro growled.

The mage nodded, took Naruto, still confused, dazed, and cradled him to his side. He called on his staff with a flick of a wrist, the backpack strapped on its length. With his staff and bag at one hand and Naruto secured on the other, he pushed the ground and lifted off, and flew towards darkness of the forest.

Keitaro sliced his sword horizontally in the air, pushing his ki to form a short yet sharp wind that drew up dirt from the ground and threw it towards the fire, killing its flames. The darkness swallowed everything as he broke to a run.

* * *

Negi flew between the enormous trees in almost complete darkness. It was difficult. The flight was abrupt and unprepared, and it wasted a lot of energy just to maintain it. He would have to land soon, and prep a better escape, but with the moon and stars barely providing any light, he couldn't risk on just landing anywhere.

At least Naruto was calm. The young boy seemed awed by the brief flight, keeping his sentences to single words, and those words to monosyllables.

For a minute, Negi descended gradually, keeping his eye on the ground. He would need to take a risk, and land somewhere; hopefully that somewhere was an empty patch of land and far from the enemy.

He didn't need to worry. Keitaro's voice suddenly rang through the darkness, near his position.

"Negi! I'm here!"

Negi turned sharply, the wind flitting sharply on his cheek as he felt his legs hit the solid open ground as he landed. Almost in complete darkness, he could barely see his partner move in a defensive position to receive them.

"Wa… wow!" Naruto exclaimed, almost breathless as they landed. "That was so _cool_!"

Negi smiled, and manipulated his staff to move the backpack strap towards a receiving shoulder. He heard metal ringing and saw sparks from the corner of his eyes, telling him that Keitaro was now defending them from another onslaught of sharp deadly objects. He even heard Naruto gasp as one of those knives stabbed the nearest tree trunk.

"Anytime now, mage!" Keitaro said through gritted teeth.

"Oh quiet you." Negi hurried and placed the other strap on his other shoulder. With the bag secured on his back, he called the boy. "Naruto-kun, come here!"

The boy obeyed without question, his face expressing fear. Negi couldn't blame him. He secured the staff between the boy's legs, and instructed, "Grip it here with your hands. It won't throw you off, but don't let go of it!"

"Wait, whAAAA…!" and the staff suddenly flew upwards, beyond the tallest branches and leaves.

Negi watched his staff and boy swallowed up to the sky, and shook his head. "I have to apologize to him."

Keitaro smirked, his white teeth exaggerated in the darkness. "He seemed to have enjoyed it." Then, his expression turned grave. There was a rush of air around them along with sparks, and more kunai fell to the ground.

"Where are they?" Negi asked towards his friend.

"About a few meters around us. Above and level-ground. No idea on the numbers… some are hiding their presences well," Keitaro replied.

"I suppose the village had a few decent ninjas." Negi closed his eyes, and raised his hand. He felt for a focus, which was a ring that Evangeline had given him back in Mahora, and gathered mana around it. "Rastel Maskil Magister," the mage began to chant his release key in a slight whisper.

Magic was an art of using mana as base energy. Unlike ki, though, applications of magic were very specific, and because of that, it took three steps to ensure proper usage. One was the gathering of mana around a focus like his father's staff or Evangeline's ring. Two was speaking a unique release key to start forming the mana. The last step required a chant to call the elements, fuse with the mana energy, and release it.

All mages follow the three steps strictly, because if one misses a step, at most, nothing happens. The best defense against a mage about to cast a spell is to attack him whilst he or she was still chanting. That was why most mages formed partnerships with others. As they began to cast their spells, their partner defends them from attacks.

The mage ignored the whole world around him – Keitaro's grunts as he moved with speed to intercept projectiles thrown at them, the ringing sound of steel meeting steel, and even the ambient noise of the forest as he began his chant in Latin. He just concentrated on one thing – his spell.

"Thirty spirits of light, converge. Magic Archer, simultaneous burst, thirty arrows of light."

Negi opened his eyes, and declared towards Keitaro, "Close your eyes," and diverted the arrows of light upwards, converging to one spot, and exploding into a mini-sun.

There was surprised scream in the air and groans of pain from anyone unprepared, or at least had his or her eyes open as they suffered temporary blindness. It bought the mage and his partner time to escape.

"Come on," Negi muttered, offering his arms towards Keitaro.

Keitaro shook his head. "No."

"Don't be stubborn Aoyama," Negi growled. "I can't leave the kid alone with my staff flying around. Just buck up, let me carry you out."

"They followed us…"

Negi rolled his eyes. "Apparently, the kid is valuable to them. We knew the possibility existed, Keitaro. Let's go!"

"Do you think they'll leave us alone? That they will leave the kid alone?"

"Then we take him with us. Now, come on!"

Keitaro looked at Negi. "Will you be able to get us out of this Universe while on the run?"

Negi frowned. To create the spell, he had to find a solid leyline, create a Circle of Magic, which meant preparation and maybe even small ritual to be sure. He wouldn't have done all of that if they were being chased.

"Then the more reason I have to stay behind," the samurai muttered. He looked at the mage, and said, "You catch up with the kid."

"And what in the world are you going to do?"

"Make sure they will think twice before chasing us," Keitaro said. He looked around them, and frowned. "Get out of here, Negi. They are regrouping."

"Damn it, Keitaro," Negi muttered. He bent his knees slightly, and gave the older man a glare. "I'm doing this under protest."

"Noted," Keitaro winked.

Negi sighed, and jumped up, willing his mana to call the Wind and lift him up, letting him fly away from the place. The last thing he heard from his friend as he climbed up towards the dark blanket of leaves was some bravado, urging his enemies at him.

Negi broke through a few branches and saw the beautiful night sky. Stars twinkled in the black velvet, the moon half-formed as it shone down its pale silver light over the dense forest down below. Bearing on his right was the Hidden Leaf Village, now well lit with electrical lights and still.

Negi found Naruto a little on his left, the boy's eyes wide gripping the staff so hard the mage thought he might have broke through the wood. With a little urge of the wind, Negi drifted towards the boy, surprising him even more.

"Wha… you're flying!" Naruto declared.

"You are too, you know," Negi replied.

"Yeah… but…" the boy looked pensive. "You'll look better with a cape."

Negi laughed. "I left my cloak down there, thanks to you."

"Oh… I'm sorry…"

The mage shook his head. "Its fine, Naruto-kun. Let's go."

"Where's your friend?"

The mage frowned, and shook his head. "He stayed behind to buy us some time." And probably do something reckless, he thought afterwards.

Naruto looked down, around the forest. He frowned. "Will he be okay?"

Negi looked below as well, with worry tracing his eyes. Keitaro was a swordsman whom he believed would end in a poem or song. However, his skills weren't perfect. The man was a battle-hardened soldier, and while he always had a good head between his shoulders, his reckless would be something of a death of him.

Though Keitaro had a point – if they wanted the boy badly, there could a be a chance they'd never be left alone. However, though, it still didn't make him any less hasty. In the end, it was a matter of trust.

"Don't worry. Keitaro's strongest when he's protecting his friends."

* * *

Keitaro watched his friend swallowed by darkness, not unlike the kid riding the mage's staff. He then faced onward, feeling the presence of multiple attackers around him – less human, more animalistic. He heard inhuman growls and the snapping of jaws. He could barely see their snouts, sharp canines and wild eyes with the light around him, yet it was enough to paint the picture.

He swung his sword around him, the light reflecting on the curve of his reverse-edged blade before it stopped parallel to his head, his hands holding the sword's hilt. He gave the dogs a smirk.

"Come on. Don't bore me now."

None of the dogs came forward. They were just there to ensure he wouldn't escape, Keitaro thought. That meant the attackers were coming at him from around. A pincer attack. The question now was… where would they attack from first?

"Above," he whispered to himself. He felt the presences coming from the sky, bearing down at him. He cut the air in a circle as he pumped ki to his legs and sword, spinning in place. "_Ougi… Hyakuretsu Ōkazan!_"

Multiple attackers, kunai at hand, came at him as his ki flashed to a thousand pink little blades, sharpening as they left the blunt edge of his blade. The small pink blades encircled around Keitaro and his ki exploded outwards, striking the attackers, and pushing them away at the same time.

Before he could get a breather, he suddenly noticed a large ki burst coming from below. The ground began to ripple, like still water when a stone thrown to its surface, as a gloved hand popped out, breaking from the surface. Keitaro jumped, hoping to avoid it, but it came too fast for him. The hand caught his ankle, and pulled him down.

He automatically responded by pushing ki towards his arm as he stabbed his sword downward. That dissuaded the subterranean attacker, letting go of his ankle as the blade broke the surface. Nearby, a man popped from the surface of the ground, his wiry silver hair protruding from his head, reflecting little light coming from the darkness. He threw some kunai and throwing stars at the samurai.

Deflecting those, Keitaro was about to move to the offensive, when he felt another strong ki burst from his right. Unbelievably, a group of snakes, mouths open, came at him, hissing as they passed. He barely dodged the attack, with at least three snakes hitting and biting at his right arm. He felt fire explode as their fangs sank in, followed by numbness.

"Nice one, Mitarashi…" the silver-haired man muttered, loud enough for Keitaro to pick it up. "Hope you didn't just dose him with something lethal."

"Of course not Hatake…" a female voice from the shadows called. "Though I did want something a bit stronger…"

Keitaro gritted his teeth, with his free hand, grabbed the offending snakes by their tails, and forced them out of his numb arm. His fingers were unresponsive. They loosened their grip on the hilt of his sword. It fell to the earth.

Another group flew down before he could even think of grabbing his fallen blade with his other hand. They wore white robes, had pale faces and long black hair. Keitaro blinked, and wondered for a moment if it was the poison now circulating around his system, but he could have sworn these people had no pupils.

"Take him down," the one called Hatake ordered. "Non-lethal."

"Yes, sir," the pale-faced cronies replied, and without a second pause, charged at Keitaro.

The samurai gritted his teeth. This looked bad. He was disarmed, his dominant arm completely numb and useless. He was left with only his left arm and two feet to defend him. Five opponents surrounded him, and they weren't amateurs.

His left fist flashed, hitting the nearer of the five, and his left foot flashed behind him to hit the next one. Keitaro couldn't stop the third one bearing through his defenses. The attacker pushed ki through his index finger and hit a nerve point in Keitaro's extended left thigh. The leg went numb.

They know how to disable the body using ki, the samurai thought. They were dangerous. Gritting his teeth, Keitaro pushed through more ki to the numb leg to force it moving again. Last thing he needed was another limb locked while he was in battle. He punched through the fourth attacker, a woman this time, and swept her off her feet. The fifth came, also a woman, though she was faster, and hit Keitaro with three successive stabs on the side.

He growled out in pain, and forced his left leg at her, but her attack debilitated him that the kick had no strength. Pushing more ki towards his body, he tried to move his sluggish body into defense to no avail. They struck him, fast and mercilessly hard, each strike robbing him of his strength, speed, and conviction.

The last attack got him on the gut, making Keitaro feel like emptying his stomach. He fell to the hard cold ground on his knees and hand. He suffered a bit of vertigo and confusion as he noticed shadows around him. He stole a look upwards to see the man with silver-hair looking down at him.

"He has a strong chakra capacity," a voice, unemotional and thoughtful, said from Hatake's right, hidden in the shadows. "We may not be able to keep him still until we lock him safely."

Hatake seemed to ponder over this, and looked at the fallen samurai. "You're not going to give us trouble now, are you?"

Keitaro found it peculiar that the man, Hatake, sounded a bit too cheery. Too tired to reply, he just glared at him as a means of reply.

"Thought not…" Hatake moved away, out of Keitaro's line of sight. "Aburame."

"Yes sir," the robot-like voice replied.

Keitaro felt small needles swim all over his body. He also suddenly felt himself growing from tired to exhaustion. Hunger faded. Pain faded. He could hear more voices around him, feminine and masculine, though faded to the background. His vision began to shrink into a tunnel, the darkness spreading around slowly. With a sigh, he relaxed his body, as everything turned black.


End file.
